Now 50 ml of antibiotics, 2.5 ml 3 times a day, should last a week, shouldn't it?

[emkana]

And I have given the right dose to ds, but still the AB is running out after four days.
Why? Have now talked to receptionist to ask for more and she made me feel like a right idiot, saying "There should be enough" in a snotty voice...
I know there should be, but there isn't! And I don't know why!

dd has only had ABs once - I think the course lasted for 5 days.

Ring the doctors back and ask if you can have one of the doctors ring you regarding anti biotics.

2.5ml 3 = 7.5mls a day, 77.5 = 52.5, so you will be 1 dose short at the end of the last day.

The thing is if the AB's I have last until tonight then I've given 14 doses = 35 ml. So the remaining 15 ml could easily have gone through wastage, couldn't they? I mean that's less than half a teaspoon full! And I'm giving the AB's with a syringe and a bottle-top thingy through which you put the syringe, and so there's always drops on there and some drops left in the top of the syringe.
I just resent it that she makes me feel like a moron.

soapbox, looking at the bottle I will run out tonight.

Was there actually 50 ml in the bottle when it was dispensed, or is it just a 50 ml bottle, which had the right amount of antibiotic in it?

It is usual for antibiotic courses to last 5 days, so 2.5 ml x 15 doses should be 37.5 ml. Pharmacists usually add a little extra to allow for slight inaccuracies when measuring it out, so I would expect that the bottle actually contained 40 ml or so. Would that be right?

Emkana you could always go into the chemist where you got it and ask as well - they might be a bit more friendly!!

It's important to finish the whole prescribed amount so they should be more than happy to sort it for you

If you are drawing the antibiotics up with a syringe, you won't have wasted 15 ml, so I expect the bottle didn't have 50 ml to start with.

A teaspoonful is 5 ml.

Agree, check with the pharmacist who dispensed it, what they actually put in the bottle. They should have a copy of the prescription, so should be able to tell you when you should run out. If there is a mistake, it's probably in the dispensing of the medicine.

Well on the bottle label it says 50 ml.
So it will look to them like I made a mistake, but I didn't, honestly.
I just can't explain it.

So 15 ml is less than a third of a teaspoon, that's a tiny amount isn't it.
There's always drops of AB left on the thingy that you put on top of the bottle to push the syringe through, I still think that over four days that could add up to close to 15 ml.
couldn't it?

15 ml would be 3 teaspoons full, so that would be anothe 6 doses, if you have no luck with the docs try the chemist

no, 15 ml is three teaspoonfuls. You won't have wasted that much if you are using a syringe. You have not made a mistake. Either the course was supposed to last 5 days, in which case all is well, or it was supposed to last more that that, in which case the pharmacist has not dispensed enough.

God I am thick after all, aren't I?
I want to sink into the floor now! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

emkana, what size is the syringe? If it is a 5 ml syringe, you could feasibly have made a mistake, but if it is a 2.5 ml syringe, you can't have drawn up 15 ml too much. It is impossible.

Em - 15mls is a whole tablespoon or 3 dispensing teaspoons. Unlikely to lose that much through wasteage unless you've spilt some???

I imagine that the course is meant to last for 5 days not a week. That way you should need 5*7.5 =38.5mls to cover 5 days which gives you 11.5mls to cover wasteage etc

It is a 5 ml syringe, but I am positive that I only ever filled it to 2.5 ml.

Sorry to have bored you with this, and I feel so embarrassed now about the 15 ml thing .
I just can't explain it, I really can't. But he will need more AB's anyway because he's still coughing.
Thanks for help, anyway.

Dont be embarrassed and you haven't bored anyone your just a concerned and worried mummy, make another appointment and take him back to the gp, he may need another course.xx hope hes better soon.

What is tha antibiotic? I think that some antibotic solutions are made up by the pharmacist. I think amoxicillin syrup (for example) comes as a powder in the bottom of a bottle & the pharmacist adds the appropriate amount of water at the time of dispensing. It would therefore be theoretically possible for the pharmacist to have added not enough water - I don't know how likely this would be though.
HTH